February 04, 2016: New Orleans Pelicans guard Toney Douglas (16) drives to the basket during the first half of the NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA. (Stephen Lew/Icon Sportswire)

Cavaliers Sign Point Guard Toney Douglas

In an announcement from Cleveland Cavaliers’ General Manager, David Griffin, the team has signed point guard Toney Douglas and waived forward Eric Moreland. The terms of Douglas’ deal were not disclosed.

The 30-year-old guard out of FSU has done quite a bit of bouncing around during his short time in the league. Douglas was drafted 29th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and has spent time with the Knicks, Rockets, Kings, Warriors, Heat, and Pelicans over his seven-year career.

Cleveland’s decision to bring on Douglas was because of the need for more depth at the point guard position. Matthew Dellavedova was pulled away from the team by the Milwaukee Bucks, who gave the Austrailian a four-year, $38 million deal. With Delly’s departure, the would-be backup would’ve been Mo Williams, but the 12-year-vet decided to recently announce his retirement.

Kay Felder was then bumped up the depth chart by default. The 53rd overall pick dazzled during his college career with Oakland but was overlooked by everyone because of his small stature. At 5’9ish, Felder lacks defensive versatility but has shown he can score and create for his teammates at a decent rate.

The issue, though, isn’t with talent. Felder can be a solid backup because LeBron James does most of the facilitating anyway, but Kyrie Irving being prone to injury shakes up the rotation even more.

If Irving were to miss a nice chunk of games this year, as he has every year, the Cavs wouldn’t have had a formal backup point guard; with Douglas, they now have it.

In 61 games with the Pelicans last season, Douglas averaged 8.7 points and 2.6 assists in just under 21 minutes a night. His biggest strength, though, is being a three-point shooter.

For his career, Douglas makes 36 percent of his shots from deep. Last year, that number shot up to 40–well, 39.9 to be exact. That plays perfectly into what Cleveland does: provide James with guys who can space the floor effectively.